GG Bridge exploring new speed limits for bicycles: 15 & 5 MPH

Although it is not a finalized proposal yet, Golden Gate Bridge officials are now considering a bicycle speed limit of 15 MPH coupled with a 5 MPH limit when passing pedestrians.

Denis Mulligan, general manager for the Bridge District, told me at the SFBC Golden Wheel Awards that they plan to meet with various groups — including the SFBC — to get input on this idea.

Anna Vignet / The Chronicle

Bicyclists pedal onto the west side of the Golden Gate Bridge, which is now closed through September.

“15 mph is a common speed limit on many multi-use paths. For example, the Cal Park Tunnel opened in Marin County last Fall and is posted at 15 mph,” Mulligan said. (You can see a partially-obscured photo of the Tunnel’s speed limit sign here.)

You may recall that Bridge officials’ proposed a 10 MPH speed limit for bicycles back in April, but many cyclists felt the limit was too low and was being considered without proper community input. The Bridge board of directors agreed to table the vote on that specific proposal and rethink things a bit.

Locals involved in the most serious collisions

The west sidewalk is now closed through September for a retrofitting project, and now the east side is seeing more mixing of bikes and pedestrians. Since the Bridge is one off the world’s top tourist (and engineering) icons, most of the peds are not commuters or joggers, but rather out-of-towners who are ambling along, taking photos and shivering.

Add to this mix the occasional flotilla of wobbly bicycle rentalistas, and you get a truly multi-use path where collisions, scrapes and falls will happen.

“On average, about once a month a bicycle accident occurs on the Bridge which results in someone leaving the Bridge sidewalks in an ambulance. We want to do better and reduce the frequency of serious sidewalk accidents,” Mulligan said. He added that the worst of the accidents usually involve locals who are going fairly fast and clip each other head-on, not the tourists who are usually too cold or timid to really hammer.

Nevertheless, the tourists on those rentals could some more schooling so they act appropriately on the Bridge: ride single file, don’t stop without warning, stop only where there’s appropriate room, like in those slight overhangs or in the spaces near maintenance sheds, etc.

Bike rules ‘reminder’ kiosk near the Bridge?

Mulligan suggested that a bike information kiosk close to the Bridge on a bike path would do well in helping remind bicycle-renting tourists of proper protocol. When they get the bikes, they are told these rules (hopefully), but let’s face it: it’s easy to forget rules and regulations by the time you get to Bridge, especially when you’re in ogling tourist mode, probably amped up from negotiating SF traffic, and still trying to convince your freezing spouse that renting those bikes was a good idea.